(Please do not take training advice from me on this...this training strategy is clearly why it takes me several weeks to recover from a marathon).
This morning, I decided I would go to the track for the first time since Pre-Boston. I was actually excited just thinking about it and kind of nervous to see what my body would be able to do. I was secretly hoping (as I always do) that interval times that used to be hard would be a breeze and I would laugh and high five the other people there as I ran to do another 5 minute mile...
That's not exactly what happened.
I got to the track and sadly the giant man who usually walks around the track every morning and shouts encouragement to himself was NOT THERE! However, there WAS a skinny dude doing what appeared to be running form work. He surely must be an avid reader of my blog and read my last entry (Blog Entry On Running Form ;).
So I got goin'.
I ran some 800s....five to be exact with around 2:15 rest in between. I had wanted to do six right around 3:20 as a sort of "workout that is challenging but not horribly difficult. Which I pretty much did (minus 1 800) at 3:18 3:18 3:18 3:21, 3:20.
I didn't feel that great about it.
The problem wasn't the times, it was the amount of effort I put into it. I was sprinting the last 800 just to make the 3:20 mark, felt exhausted, and am pretty sure I couldn't have done another! It felt great to get out there, but my legs were glaring at me the whole time saying "What the heck? We haven't run faster than 8:00 miles in the last month...no way are we going 6:36ish...today!"
When I got back to my place, I chugged some Trop 50 Pineapple-Mango. Have I mentioned how much I love this stuff? 50 calorie fruit juice..all natural and all fruit, heck yeah! It's not quite as good as the real higher calorie stuff (in my opinion) but totally awesome for after workouts because it's more refreshing.
In fact Trop 50 and I took a post workout picture together....
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Bottom line on the track workout, I am not exactly where I want to be for running a half marathon soon, speedwise, but...just gives me more room to improve, right?
Do ya do speed stuff? What are your favorite speed workouts? (for me...it's repeat miles for pure, gut wrenching satisfaction)
Have you tried Trop50 ? (I promise I don't work for them, I just like da juice after running).
Have a great Thursday!!
I'm just now getting introduced to speedwork now (my last training plan was mostly about building mileage, not speed), and I usually like it. I definitely enjoy that feeling of being super awesome and strong after, but during... I usually want to die. lol
ReplyDeleteGreat splits regardless! I used to be a sprinter so the whole idea of interval training and tempo runs and anything speed+distance related makes me cringe just thinking about it. I'm tired reading your splits, I can't imagine running them.
ReplyDeleteHaha omg that picture made me laugh out loud!!! I love it!!! Speedwork is tough for me at times and I still haven't actually been to a track to do some. I should!
ReplyDeleteLove your mad photoshop skillz. I need to learn how to do that!
ReplyDeleteI've never done any formal speedwork....ever. But I sometimes try to run quickly for a couple miles when I'm out on a run.
This year I'm going to drop in more with a running group that does speed work every other week at a track, that'll hopefully teach me how to do it.
And YES I was like the nerd without the giant hat at the Derby party, I'll def have to get one for next year!
I'm not really a fan of juice! I only like fresh orange juice when I'm on a beach holiday--then it just feels right!
ReplyDeleteI seriously need to get on a track. I've been doing it on a treadmill lately.
:)
I have never tried the juice before but it looks good!
ReplyDeleteI hate doing speed workouts, in fact I try to resist as much as I can but when I do go out for speed I would say I stick with the Yasso 800s. Like you did today.
Sarah
I was just talking about this with a friend the other day. Speed work is my favorite. I do much better in speed workouts and they give me a little variety. I rarely do them on a track though...
ReplyDeleteI can't hit the roads as often as I'd like so I do speed intervals (I forget what they're called there is a real name) on the treadmill. Highest incline, fastest speed 30 secs on 10 off and so forth. I like your track idea, I'm going to try to PR a sub 2 my next half (I'm slow) so this all helps me thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteYOU KILLED YOUR SPEED WORK!!! Holy cow you are SPEEDY!!! Share your love of track work with me and I will give you some of my long distance love!!! Hope you are having an amazing day gorgeous girl!
ReplyDeleteI'm a sadistic mile repeat lover, too. Somehow it's so easy to ignore the remaining sets when you're telling yourself "just .3 to go and I can rest!" (even though you actually have like 4.3 left)
ReplyDeleteI still have not made a post-Boston return to the track, but I enjoy track work for similar reasons. I also expect that since I've done Boston now, all track work will be easy and sub-5 min miles will just happen naturally. I'm sure I'll eventually get the same awakening you had, though mine will be even more painful since my times won't be as solid as yours!
ReplyDeleteI think I might turn into a mile repeat lover soon.
ReplyDeleteI do 800's on the tread. The time goes so fast. Last week I even did some 1200's and enjoyed it. I'm planning on doing 1 speed workout and one hill/speed workout a week starting very soon. I found a cute hill (the only hill) near my place.
I swear I commented on this the first time around, but it looks like blogger's failure deleted it!
ReplyDeleteTo recap - thanks for stopping by my blog first of all! Second, great splits! I still can't stomach speed work with distance running... I'm not that hardcore yet.